Dental professionals attitude towards biostatistics

The aim of this study was to evaluate the attitude of dental professionals towards biostatistics. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among all the faculty members and postgraduate students of dentistry at Riyadh Colleges of Dentistry and Pharmacy, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Descriptive analysis was undertaken and differences between groups were examined using Chi-square test. A response rate of 53.7% (n = 102) was achieved. Biostatistics was believed to be a difficult subject by 57.8% (n=59) of the respondents. Only 28.4% (n=29) respondents were confident that they can conduct their own statistical analyses with confidence. Majority of the respondents reported a positive attitude to the questions concerning perceptions of biostatistics and its relationship to research and evidence based dentistry. Dental professionals showed a low perceived knowledge of biostatistical concepts despite a clear recognition of the importance of these issues. There is a need of changing the training pattern of biostatistics for dental professionals. An integrated approach to teaching biostatistics with clinical relevance would make them confident enough to apply biostatistics in their clinical practice.